Aussie 18 foot skiffs race from the Golden Gate to the Oakland Bridge

[rbgarr]

Some pretty amazing pictures here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/18-SF/

[mmd]

Amazing boats and sailors. At what point do they stop being boats and start being ballasted kites? ;) :D

[Norske3]

SAILING?...thats not sailing....thats "water flying"...or "dancing on the wind"....those Aussie have an excellent sense of balance eh mate?....the wind must be steady for long periods of time...

[Hal Forsen]

In California parlance,That's GNARLY!
:cool:
HF

[Meerkat]

Those aren't boats! They're roof racks with masts! :D

[Boatmik]

Probably not constant wind - something in our genes.

:eek: :D :eek:
http://www.moth.asn.au/pictures/2004_melb_nats/Rohan_Veal11.jpg

[igatenby]

On any Sunday ....... in Sydney Harbour.

The 18's didn't like it when the Tornados used to win the Cock of the Harbour - not sure what the current state of play is between the 18's and the Tornados

Barry - my shipwright mate is an ex world champ in the 18s - he won it twice in the mid 60's, sailing with Dave Porter.

[Hwyl]

I'd love to sail an 18, I'm not sure i could sail a foiling moth.

Thanks for the pictures. Boats: I love em all.

[John B]

I watched a couple on the weekend.They are remarkable boats.
Them , some 12 footers( they have racks too)a couple of nacra cats and one of those new A class cats with the ram bows. The acceleration is astounding on the lot of them.
The 18's and 12's are hard to be on the same harbour with because of the sheer speed and the fact they jump around so much.., its very hard to work out where they are tracking so if you're on port......one second you're clear , the next its a collision course.

[brian.cunningham]

:cool:

Shows you how much fun a small boat can be. http://www.woodenboat-ubb.com/ubb/icons/icon14.gif

[John B]

video of that foiler moth sailing here (http://horsesmouth.journalspace.com/)

[Figment]

(Speaking as a former multihuller)

Part of me does miss sailing boats in which the crash&burn is as much fun as the actual sailing, but still those guys are all just friggin nuts.

[Lucky Luke]

Originally posted by igatenby:
not sure what the current state of play is between the 18's and the Tornados
.Don't know either, but look at that between a foiled moth and a Class A cat :cool: tongue.gif smile.gif

http://www.moth.it/Index.htm (http://www.moth.it/Video/MothMeetingCVCE.wmv)

[igatenby]

Small world - turns out the guy who developed the Moth foils is a neighbour's cousin.

First boat I ever sailed on was a Moth - closely followed by a Kitty Kat (another 12'er which was about tice as fast and twice as much fun).

Ian

[John B]

Kitty kat... Jim Young design?

[Meerkat]

Meow? ;)

Personally, I would prefer something built for comfort, not for speed... ;)

[Lucky Luke]

David, try:
http://www.armchair.com :D

[igatenby]

Kitty kat... Jim Young design? That's the one - designed to win the 12' Interdominion championship (raced between Aussies and Kiwis) - which it did so successfully that multihulls were banned from the series. I've still got a set of plans under the house I think - 12' x 6'10" (says he thinking back to 1970 or so) - with, I think, 150 feet of sail + another 150 feet in a shy kite.

Ian

[Wild Wassa]

I gave a little bit of a hand to help rig Xabica yesterday ... she is a local boat now. She certainly doesn't look like the Champion that she was. She might just need a good T-Cut. She certainly has had her share of repairs ... it could be something to do with, when she gets up to speed, she runs out of lake around here.

When I talked to her Skipper, he told me he was looking for someone who can pull on a bit of string ... a joy ride?

Yesterday it was forcast to reach 35kts, but only reached 13.5. Some Skippers took extra crew as ballast ... and payed for their mistakes.

Warren.

[ 10-16-2005, 09:59 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[qm]

This makes as much sense as the "Atlantic Challenger" racing across the Atlantic in , I think, 1986, to take the crossing record away from the SS United States(I think). These are simply not boats just trapezee hanging in the wind. They do not have to be what boats have to be. QM

[Wild Wassa]

qm, in 1-2 knots, the Skipper is out on the wing and the tiller extension is longer than most boats.

They are just a flattish dish, pointy at one end, wet at the other and they go over a lot. The boats take about 40 minutes to rig ... and they are capable of doing 35 knots.

For a dinghy class, the sails are very impressive though.

Warren.

ps, after spending so much time working on them, I only view boats now as, foils above the water, foils below the water and something in the middle that floats ... which needs to go fast.

[ 10-16-2005, 10:08 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]